Market Wrap - Stock pick — FirstRand

Andile Buthelezi from Sentio Capital chose FirstRand as his stock pick of the day. "I'm going to go for FirstRand, on a year-to-date basis our banks have been hurt quite a bit and it's creating a bit of an opportunity in terms of a decent entry point. I think in this environment it's very important for you to choose the better quality players and FirstRand is one of those. It is one that foreign investors like too because of its high quality management. In this environment you are likely to see some increase in payments but we've seen some of the initiatives that the banks have instituted to help mitigate against the rand impairment like the payment holidays. They also don't have too much exposure to the high-risk consumers relative to other banks they have a well-diversified book. It remains a quality stable business with a high ROE, so the recent fall in the name is giving investors the opportunity to invest in a definitive high-quality company."